LINK World Happiness Report 2019 | The World Happiness Report
Bill Maher used this recently released report to counter arguments that socialism is what leads to disasters like Venezuela, pointing out that the happiest countries are the ones who have embraced some form of socialism. And noting that the US ranks #19, below countries like Israel, Ireland, etc.
2
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
7 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.
Wtf happened to ? 34th? Their profile doesn't look like the ones around them either. They rival the top ten in every metric except the light purple region. The actual graph says Dystopia ( 1.88 ) + residual whatever that means.
Happy_Killbot
Level 7
Mar 30, 2019
0
61st place for freedom and 42nd place for corruption -- Aaron Sorkin needs to update his classic Newsroom rant. It's only gotten worse!
The United States came in 19th place, dropping one spot since last year and a total of five spots since 2017.
Except for its 10th place ranking for income, the US doesn't rank in the top 10 on measures that make up a happy country in the UN report. They include 12th place for generosity, 37th place for social support, 61st place for freedom and 42nd place for corruption.
Addiction is partly to blame, says report co-author Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, who wrote a chapter focused on the US epidemic of addictions and unhappiness in America, a rich country where happiness has been declining.
This year's report provides sobering evidence of how addictions are causing considerable unhappiness and depression in the US," says Sachs, in a press release. "Addictions come in many forms, from substance abuse to gambling to digital media. The compulsive pursuit of substance abuse and addictive behaviors is causing severe unhappiness."
Social connections are weakening in the US as social media usage is raising anxiety, especially among adolescents, says Helliwell.
Source:
jerry99
Level 8
Mar 30, 2019
0
with a national debt of 22 trillion how can the US be considered a rich country? and then there are all the trillions that are owed for future obligations.
Well, you know what they say. Correlation always means causation. So that socialism is for sure the cause of happiness.
indirect76
Level 7
Mar 30, 2019
0
When almost all of the countries that rank higher than the US in happiness are socialist democracies, then it does look like there's a relationship. It certainly refutes the Venezuela argument that socialism causes misery.
@jerry99 Most of the high ranking countries are in the northern hemisphere, so I think the northern hemisphere makes people happy.
@indirect76 About four out of five countries are in the northern hemisphere, so that's not much of a surprise.
@alliwant Well, it’s not like I thought anyone would take that idea seriously.
The USSR ruined the word socialism. That will change as a generation or two pass. The millennials have no such fear of socialist programs.
Sticks48
Level 9
Mar 30, 2019
1
You are very right about millenials. 
I am actually surprised that the U.S. rated as highly as it did. We have crushing inequality and income disparity, a massive wage gap, an increasingly heavy-handed police state, lock up more people than any other nation, we're egocentric, and run as a plutocracy that places greed and profit above all else, including family and health.
If I could speak the languages, I would very seriously consider moving to a Scandinavian country, The Netherlands, or Iceland.
Piratefish
Level 7
Mar 30, 2019
1
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.